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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-06-13 Daily Xml
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Entrepreneurial Learning Strategy

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:48): My question is to the Minister for Education, Training and Skills. Is the government ending funding for entrepreneurial leadership positions at Mount Gambier, Murray Bridge, Heathfield, Banksia Park, and Seaton High Schools at the end of this year? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: In an answer provided through the parliament today by the minister to a question taken on notice on 8 September last year, the minister said, and I quote:

Funding has been committed to the Entrepreneurial Learning Strategy in 2022-23. This funding supports the five entrepreneurial specialist schools to complete their program of initiatives and deliver on the outcomes of the Strategy which are due to be completed by the end of 2023.

Separately, members of the affected school communities have raised concerns with the opposition that these positions, including assistant principals, will be let go at the end of this year.

The Hon. B.I. BOYER (Wright—Minister for Education, Training and Skills) (14:49): I thank the member for Morialta for his question. I might say that I have taken the very clear attitude in my time as minister that programs and initiatives that the former government did that I thought were working and were of a positive benefit should stay, and I have made that decision in the case of a lot of programs that were either commenced or continued under the member for Morialta's tenure.

I would have to get some specifics probably about the questions to which he refers today, although I understand that the programs were funded for a certain period of time. The funding was designed to conclude at the end of that period and that the programs were designed to make sure that those schools and the five that the member for Morialta raises were self-sufficient after that time and not requiring more funding.

I will take the question around whether or not the leadership roles, particularly the assistant principal roles, are still being funded or not, and I will come back to the house on that, but I think I have a pretty good track record so far of supporting programs that are doing good things for South Australian kids regardless of whether they commenced under Labor governments or Liberal governments. If this is indeed the case of a program that was receiving funding that is no longer, I am pretty sure it would only be the case that the program had a natural conclusion and that it has now reached that natural conclusion.

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